


Like a sheep in a fold, like a flock in its pasture

by Anti_kate



Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Aziraphale is in a MOOD, Can you imagine Gabriel and Michael hanging out while you were having a baby, Gabriel is an arsehole, Just like in the bible, M/M, No betas we live and die like men, Sheep are inherently humorous, The sheep are a metaphor, Working out my atheism through fiction, poor mary
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-09
Updated: 2019-12-09
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:08:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21738121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anti_kate/pseuds/Anti_kate
Summary: Gabriel had also made it clear that after Aziraphale announced the birth to the shepherds his presence wasn’t required, so here he was, making sure nothing with sharp teeth menaced the sheep.
Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 95





	Like a sheep in a fold, like a flock in its pasture

**Author's Note:**

> If you’re unhappy about silly retellings of the birth of Jesus Christ, consider this a content warning.  
> Written for Drawlight’s 31 days of ineffables advent calendar.

The humans had started putting bells on the sheep a few thousand years earlier. Aziraphale wasn’t sure why, but they’d kept it up, and now he was sat among a whole flock of tinkling, chewing, fragrant animals, all of them looking up at the impossible brightness of the star as it faded in the growing dawn.

It was cold in the predawn light, so the sheep were huddled together, and he’d ended up in the middle of the flock. His work was done, but he hadn’t moved.

He’d visited the shepherds, announced the birth of the child, and then they’d rushed off into the town to find the baby. The Baby. The Very Important Baby. The Messiah himself, who had been born but a few hours earlier and was no doubt doing whatever it was newborn babies did. Could newborns talk? Did they walk? Was he already doing miracles? Aziraphale wasn’t entirely sure. Human lives were very short anyway and he avoided children when possible, as they were often rude and sticky. (But he’d wanted to see The Baby.)

This meant the shepherds had left their sheep unattended, and there were wolves in the hills, and Aziraphale was worried about the safety of the flock under the circumstances.

Gabriel had also made it clear that after Aziraphale announced the birth to the shepherds he was no longer needed, so here he was, making sure nothing with sharp teeth menaced the sheep.

It was important. Well, it was important to the shepherds, and Aziraphale thought that the shepherds must also have been important to have warranted the full angelic visitation package, complete with trumpets and booming voices and glowing wings and all that. Therefore, guarding the sheep was also important.

He definitely wasn’t upset about not being invited to the actual event itself. 

It wasn’t as though he’d been on earth for four thousand years, give or take a few, and yet apparently he - heaven’s only permanent earthly field agent - was too insignificant to attend the birth of the messiah. No, this was just about protecting the stupid sheep, and their stupid bells.

The sheep chose that moment to, as a group, lift their heads and all look the same way. They’d spotted a predator. They were tense, poised to flee.

It wasn’t a wolf. It was... Crawly.

“Hello there angel,” the demon said, walking down a little rocky path from higher up in the hills. “Nearly didn’t see you there with all your friends.”

The sheep were still with terror and Aziraphale could sense they were about to make a break for it, and then he’d be chasing sheep up and down hills for weeks, so he used a small miracle to convince them Crawly wasn’t actually a terrifying demon from hell and was instead a perfectly normal person. A friend, even. _He won't eat you. I promise._

There was more tinkling as the sheep relaxed, and lowered their heads back to the grass.

“Don’t suppose you know anything about that great big supernova that’s been bathing the whole planet in massive amounts of radiation for the past few days?” Crawly asked casually, twitching down his black headscarf.

Aziraphale put on his most innocent expression. “Pardon?”

“Supernova. See, what happens is, when a really big star, like a red giant, gets old, it runs out of fuel. And then it collapses in on itself in a huge explosion.” The demon threw his arms into the air violently, which made the nearest sheep twitch a little, setting off more tinkling. “Enormous explosion. And bright. Brightest thing in the universe.”

“I see,” Aziraphale said, although he didn’t, at all. “Well, stars and explosions and things... They’re not really my department,” he added, realizing he sounded like an utter fool. Not that he cared what Crawly thought of him, of course.

The demon arched an eyebrow at him. “Only, I’ve been hearing rumours, about a miraculous star, and a special baby.”

Aziraphale stood up so suddenly the sheep skittered away, although they calmed down a moment later. Aziraphale thought now that the sound of the little bells was growing extremely grating.

“I’m not talking to you about this, Crawly. And if you have any... decency whatsoever you’ll just slither off right now.”

“Of course I don’t have any decency, I’m a demon,” Crawly said, stalking after Aziraphale through the herd. “Look. I don’t go in for hurting kids. You know that. I just want to know what’s happening so I can figure out how to deal with downstairs.”

“You can’t just expect me to tell you,” Aziraphale said. He wasn’t sure where he was walking, it just seemed important to move, to put as much distance between himself and Crawly as possible. Unfortunately, Crawly didn’t seem to realise that.

Normally, he didn’t mind Crawly’s company, and sometimes he even welcomed the sight of that ridiculous hair bobbing through a crowded marketplace towards him. Sometimes he thought about him when he wasn’t there. Sometimes he’d see someone and think it was Crawly, and it was as if the sun had just risen, and then it would turn out to be some tallish woman with dusty red hair, and he’d be disappointed for a little while. Usually no more than a day or so. Other times he found himself thinking about the twist of Crawly’s mouth, or the way his hands moved when he talked. (And then there were the times he imagined they might meet as humans, as just two people, and then what might happen? Would they be friends? Or something else? Those were the thoughts he tried his hardest not to think.)

But this. This was a holy time. The world was tilting on its axis, something profound was happening.

And Aziraphale didn’t know what it meant, because that was information reserved for more important beings. Not him.

Something sharp burned inside him, a feeling he couldn’t name. He stopped and turned and they nearly collided, and Crawly was forced to step back to they weren’t chest to chest.

“So what do you know about the child, then?” Aziraphale asked, his voice harsher than he intended.

“Not much,” Crawly said. “To be honest I’m surprised to see you here. Thought you’d be in the town with the rest of them. Can’t get near the place there’s so much holiness everywhere.” He pulled a face, as if he’d eaten something disgusting.

“My services weren’t required,” Aziraphale said, stiffly, and then he waited for Crawly to mock him, or sneer, or laugh.

Instead the demon tilted his head slightly, and scratched his chin, as if puzzled.

“You mean to tell me the angel who knows the most about the earth, and humans, wasn’t invited to the big baby party?”

“I had other work. I, ah, had to announce the news to some shepherds.”

“Did you? That sounds ... really dull.”

“It’s been a while since I did the whole voice and ethereal glow thing, so it was rather nice actually. It’s a skill, you know, giving them just enough awe without melting their eyeballs. And then they were overcome and had to rush into town to let everyone know, so I thought I should make sure the sheep were safe.”

At that Crawly looked at him sharply. “So you’ve been out here all night minding sheep?”

“Well, I...” Aziraphale’s treacherous hands were twisting in his rough robe. “Yes.”

There was no sound except soft bleating and, yes, more tinkling. The sun was up completely now, but the star was still visible, though it would soon be gone for good. It was a beautiful morning.

Crawly’s face was moving through several expressions, and then finally settled into something like sympathy.

“Eh, fairly mucky business, the whole birth thing. Lots of moaning and .... mess. Wet mess. You’re not missing much.”

A sheep came up and nosed at Aziraphale’s hand, and he patted it absently on the head. “Do you really think so?”

“Sure. And babies are all the same. They all look like old men, all scrunched up. They don’t get interesting until they can walk and talk. You can just pop back in a few years.”

“Oh, they won’t be here then, they’ve got to go back to Na-“ Aziraphale said, and then clapped his hands over his mouth.

Crawly made a disappointed sound. “Honestly, angel, how long have we been friends, and you still think I’m going to... run off and tattle to hell about every little thing you tell me?”

 _Friends_.

“This isn’t a little thing Crawly-“

“No, it’s not. But I don’t hurt kids. Angel. I do not hurt children.” His eyes seemed to glow even more yellow than usual as he spoke. And... yes, that was three times. An invocation. Despite himself, Aziraphale shivered. Crawly didn’t seem to notice.

“In fact, if I know where the kid is, you have my word that I’ll keep away. All right? Until he’s old enough to make his own choices,” he continued.

Aziraphale blinked. “He’s the messiah, the anointed one, the _Christos_... he doesn’t get a choice in that.”

Crawly shrugged again, sinuous and unconcerned. “Sure. But everyone gets some choices, don’t they? Otherwise, what’s the point? It’s not a clockwork universe.”

“A what what? No, never mind.” Aziraphale steadied himself. “Nazareth, he’ll be in Nazareth. They’ll spend a little time in Egypt, but not too long.”

Crawly looked at him coolly, and calmly, and Aziraphale felt wretched for telling him and also wretched for doubting him. It had been 4000 years, and Crawly had been many things, but he had never directly lied to Aziraphale. He might be a foul fiend, and a wicked serpent, but he wasn’t all bad.

“Right. I might head east then, see if there’s anything interesting happening in India. So, ah, fancy a drink before I go?”

Aziraphale looked down at the flock of sheep around their legs. “Sorry. Not today,” he said. “Someone’s got to look after the sheep.”

Crawly grinned. “Have fun then, angel,” he said, then stalked off, and Aziraphale was left alone with only the star above, and the tinkling of the bells.

**Author's Note:**

> So. I don’t know, these prompts are getting harder! And life happened, and I am running behind, but here we go for day 6. It was originally sleigh bells, but I decided to make it just bells.  
> (Some things about bells on animals - apparently not every sheep in a herd will have a bell, but for the sake of fiction, let’s give every sheep one! You get a bell, and you get a bell, and you get a bell!)  
> The title is from Micah 2:12.


End file.
